Sweetie Tree Parties

I've know I recently mentioned our Sweetie Tree Parties on here so thought I should tell you about them!  To start with let me just say that I think I enjoy them as much as the children!

We've started doing parties at The Sweet Shop where up to 10 kids get to come along and make their own Sweetie Trees using any sweets in The Sweet Shop - we close the shop for the party and they get to have the whole shop to themselves.  The trees created have been soo amazing, I didn't realise that they could look so different by using the same sweets. Anyway, have a look at this picture taken by our friend www.hayleyruthphotography.co.uk and I'm sure you'll see what I mean :-)

We've had a busy weekend!  A Sweetie Buffet for a 21st birthday party and another of our Sweetie Tree making parties in the Sweet Shop. The Sweetie Tree making parties are a new thing and as soon as I've got some pictures I'll put them on for you all to see.

So.......... the 21st birthday party was being held in a gorgeous barn with a "winter country" theme - daffodiles, pine cones, ivy, muted colours and gingham.  We created the sweetie table to fit in with the theme using some of our vintage props and a gorgeous old typewriter courtesy of Kate Fletcher at www.vintagestylehire.co.uk

We made some giant hessian flowers to hang behind the sweetie table and I was so pleased with how they looked. The birthday girl and her family had laid out some long tables beautifully and the whole barn looked stunning. What do you think?

We left some room in the centre of the table for the birthday girl's tower of home made cupcakes.......

It's "change the window time" again in The Sweet Shop!  I's too early for a Mothers Day window (18th March people, don't forget) we thought we'd fill the window with our vintage and antique weighing scales and a spring tree.  And of course our little Sweet Shop mascots, made by Amanda Banham http://www.etsy.com/shop/BygoneVeras wanted to join in with a bit of tree climbing.

Tiffany Blue themed Sweetie Table

When Leanne came into the shop and told me she was having a Tiffany blue colour scheme for her wedding I thought it was a beautiful idea.  So when it came to creating her sweetie table Inwas able to use one of my favourite images from http://www.melanieacevedo.com for inspiration and introduce hints of black to co-ordinate with the blue and white.  And who wouldn't love a home office like this, it's just gorgeous!

Leanne and her husband were married in Scotland and then had a second reception for all the family and friends who couldn't go to the wedding. It was at Bury Lodge www.burylodge.com and the setting was fabulous for the table we created.

And to add a little bit of bling and even more glamour to the occasion I made a crystal tree which set it all off brilliantly - the lighting in the barn really made the crystals twinkle.

Thank you so much Leanne for asking me to create a sweetie table for your special day xxxx 

It's been too long................

My poor little blog has been so neglected - things in the Shop have been a little bit hectic over the Christmas period and my attention was needed elsewhere.


So here I am again - back with lots to tell you and lots to show you.  We've been making hundreds of sweetie trees and hampers for Christmas presents and also catered for a big party for our friends at PLAY.COM. 

So let me tell you about that one first.  When Becky from PLAY.COM first approached me she told me that their head office Christmas party was going to be in a college in Cambridge - Great I thought - but that the theme for the party was "Modern Tokyo" - not so great I thought!  That really stretched my creativity. 

However, after lots of thinking and input from my creative team we came up with the idea of sweet sushi.  It turned out very well and looked so effective.  We then made black sushi boats to display the trays of sushi and these then had pride of place in the centre of the tables.  They went down very well, especially the extras that we'd made that were shared amongst everyone when we were setting up - including the band members of "Maverick Sabre" who were playing that night.

Willy Wonka Bars!

This week we had a delivery of "Wonka Bars".  I wasn't sure how they would sell so I only ordered 20 - HOWEVER, they all sold out within the first day!  I now have a waiting list of 15 people wanting them so obviously I've now ordered lots more.  I have to say they are really great fun and they actually have a Golden Ticket too!  Want one........................?

It's Christmas (well almost)

Christmas is officially coming to the Sweet Shop tomorrow!  We've had huge red tissue paper pompom poppies with black centres hanging in the window this week but now we're doing Christmas. 

I found this picture of the most amazing tree on www.trendytree.com - isn't it just GORGEOUS!  I love it and I'm going to use it as inspiration for the Christmas tree going into the shop window tomorrow.  We've got hundreds of giant swirly lollies, candy canes, gingerbread men (made out of cardboard) and Christmas stockings to decorate the tree and hopefully it will look as cheerful as this one.

And this year the Mayor & Mayoress have reintroduced Saffron Walden's very own Christmas Shop Window Display competition, so we've got to make it a good display.  Luckily, I've got lots of lovely help - some of the Sweet Shop's fan club are coming in tomorrow to help with the decorations. 

I LOVE CHRISTMAS :-)

And all these fabulous things came in today - wooden advent calendars, christmas stockings and beautiful tree ornaments.

Oh and did I mention that I LOVE CHRISTMAS :-)

It's been ages................

I have seriously neglected by poor little Blog! There's been so much going on and there just aren't enough hours in the day to do everything I want to do and to tell you what I've been up to.  Never mind, here's a quick catch up and then I'll post some gorgeous wedding pics over the weekend.

First though, thought I'd share with you some images of the Super Mario party that I styled for my friend Vicky. Her son is Mario mad and as I only had daughters who are now far too old for all that, I really didn't know anything about Mario and his pals, so I had a fair amount of googling and research to do.

What we eventually came up with was black and white chequerboard tablecloths, themed drinks labels and lots of red lunchboxes.  At the end of the party everyone went home with a Mario toy, a piece of fabulous Mario chocolate cake from www.nikkinashcakes.co.uk and some sweets all packed into some Sweet Shop stripey bags sealed with a special "Thanks for coming to Matthew's Party" stickers.  I think it all looked great and if the noise was anything to go by, then the children all had a great time!

And of course what else does a 6 year old boy do when he's finished all the food in his red lunchbox?  Put it on his head obviously!

Alice in Wonderland Party

This week we provided a large table centre arrangement and 5 smaller arrangements for a big Brownie Guide party in Chelmsford.  The theme was Alice in Wonderland so we created a large Queen of Hearts Centre Arrangement using giant playing cards, heart shaped lollipops, lots of toffees wired onto florist wire and wrapped in cellophane and even flying saucers that I decorated with icing so that hopefully they looked like pocket watches.  I then added lots of curly ribbon and red heart cards.

For the smaller table arrangements we gave them glass jars filled with lemon sherbet, "Drink me" labels and lots of lollies and jelly hearts.

Apparently all the Brownies dressed up to join in with the Alice theme and were so over excited by the sweets and decorations.  I can't wait to see the pictures of them all.

In a couple of weeks, we're creating a "Super Mario" party for a 6 year old boy's birthday. There'll be Mario images, lots of pompoms and even a race circuit where the children get to have races in the karts that we are making from cardboard boxes - just think Romper Room and you'll know what I mean :-)

Our Window Displays

Amy and I love creating our window displays. And during the week of the Saffron Walden Maze Festival, my lovely Saturday helpers Leanne and Lucy helped to make a Maze out of sweets for the Shop Window decorating competition.  We used fizzy apple strips as grass, rainbow strips weaved to make a picnic blanket and quite a few Bertie Bassetts (and their dog, fudge) and as you can see they are all having a picnic from their very own Sweet Shop hamper!  We then created a maze to look like the famous and oldest turf maze in the Country, which is on the Saffron Walden Common. We used long cola whips and chocolate crumbs and of course more of the Bertie Bassetts trying it out.  And as you can see from the certificate, we WON!  We were all thrilled and so happy to have the recognition. And what's more, we were on the front page of the Walden Local http://Walden Local Maze Competition

Once the Maze Festival week was over we couldn't wait to create the next display ready for when all the children went back to school.  In proper Sweet Shop style we created a vintage "back to school" display using all sorts of old school sports equipment and school photos.  Luckily, a good friend of mine has lots of her old school equipment including her first satchel, lacrosse stick, old books and photos.  It's certainly caused a stir and lots of people have been putting their heads round the door to say how much they love it.

The next display is going to be for our Sweet Shop sponsored football team - The Saffron Rangers!Watch this (window) space .....................